News:
December 2014

A better connected North as PD Ports opens new rail terminal

PD Ports has welcomed the arrival of the first Freightliner train at Teesport’s new intermodal rail terminal as part of a £3M investment to improve connectivity.

The first train arrived on Saturday 15th November, signifying the creation of new intermodal connections from Teesport to Felixstowe and Southampton. Opportunities for the establishment of further new routes to Scotland, the Midlands and the North West are expected in line with market demand.

The establishment of the new rail terminal, built by Owen Pugh Construction, is the latest major phase in PD Ports’ wider on-going investment at Teesport and follows on from the £16.7M container terminal expansion development in 2011. This investment further cements Teesport’s position as the UK’s leading provider of portcentric logistics, offering greater operational flexibility and improved efficiencies for customers.

“We are delighted to announce that the new rail terminal is now fully operational,” said Geoff Lippitt, PD Ports’ Business Development Director. “We have invested significantly in expanding the intermodal services available at the Port and the arrival of Freightliner provides a greater level of service options, as well as improving our portcentric capability for our customers.

“There has been a significant amount of press coverage lately centred round a better connected north including greater use of our rail network and waterways to move goods around the country. Our facility at Teesport has the potential to further attract logistics activity to sites with efficient low cost transport networks and we will continue to work hard to see this come to fruition,” concluded Mr Lippitt.

“To be competitive in UK container transport, rail requires well-positioned, high quality terminals and this site delivers both,” said Keith Gray, Commercial Director at Freightliner Limited. “The new rail facility meets Freightliner’s requirements and the high standards demanded by our customers. We are delighted with the successful commencement of services to and from Teesport and would like to thank the team at PD Ports. We look forward to working with them in developing further services.”

Robin Armstrong, Group Logistics Director at Owen Pugh, said: “We are delighted to have completed the work to develop the new intermodal rail terminal at Teesport on behalf of PD Ports.

“Owen Pugh is highly experienced in working on technically challenging projects and this scheme, which involved the provision of a reinforced concrete pavement equivalent to the length of five football pitches, certainly showcased the team’s full capabilities and provided us with an opportunity to strengthen our position as a leading main contractor.

“We’re proud to have played a part in this important regional scheme which and we look forward to working with the client again in the very near future.”